When Worlds Collide
by Andrea Colt
Summary: Though the Charmed Ones have long been retired, trouble just doesn't respect that, so when an evil big enough to force them out of retirement rears it's head, they and their husbands get back in the game. Their children, seeing how worried their parents are, try to help - casting a spell that pulls heroes from Smallville, Supernatural, and Buffy out of Paige's DVD collection.


**When Worlds Collide**

****_This is a story I started about 5 years ago. I found it again while going through some old back-up files. I haven't had time to write in a long time, but I don't like to think about this going to waste, so I'm posting it as a challenge of sorts. Read and enjoy, and if you feel inspired to finish it, please do so and post it for others to read. If you do write a conclusion for it, please leave a note in the reviews with the title so others can find it._

**Chapter 1: Collision**

Sam and Dean Winchester were arguing. At least Sam was arguing. Dean was just being annoyingly stubborn.

"I'm telling you, we should have gone another couple of miles. The guy at the gas station said highway 32, this is highway 23."

"And I'm telling you that I remember how to get there, and this is the way. Besides, I'm driving, so shut your cake hole." Dean cranked up the stereo to drown out Sam's protestations.

Sam fumed silently for a few moments, and then he reached over and turned down the volume, "Dean, what's so important about finding this one diner anyway? We've passed three restaurants already."

"They've got good pie." Dean paused, then admitted, "And there's a waitress there…" He trailed off.

"So all of this is just so you can ogle a pretty waitress?" Sam threw up his arms in frustration, his tone incredulous.

"No. It's… it's complicated, Sam." Dean was silent for a moment, and then continued, "I met her about three years ago, back while you were at school. I really liked her. I mean, we never dated or anything. It wasn't like with Cassie. It's just… I always meant to get back by to see her again."

"Dean…" Sam started to argue, but was cut off.

"I've got some things to wrap up before… You know." The car descended into tense silence. It always did when Dean's deal came up. Dean didn't want to talk about it. Sam did, but he knew there was no point in trying. He opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. There was nothing he could say that would make it better.

Dean started to reach for the volume knob again when suddenly everything went white.

Clark Kent was brooding. He was at the window of his loft in the barn, but he wasn't looking out. He was looking at the old telescope. He remembered how he used to watch Lana, how much simpler things were when he just admired her from afar. Before high school, before Lex and Kryptonite, and all of the meteor freaks, when it was just him and Pete and Chloe.

It seemed like he had no sooner thought of her than he heard her heartbeat, and her distinctive steps on the stairs behind him. "Hey, Chloe."

"Clark. Your mom said you were up here." She walked over to where Clark was standing at the window and laid a hand on his arm, "Clark, Lana's a big girl. I think she's making a mistake marrying him, too, but it's her choice. You can't spend the rest of your life hiding up here."

"Yeah. I know." He looked out across the fields, "I just wish… I wish I could have done things differently. I should have told her about me, about my secret." He clenched his hands into fists making his knuckles go white. He wanted to lash out and hit something, but he couldn't. Unlike ordinary guys, he couldn't even punch a wall to release all the anger and pain he was feeling – not unless he wanted to demolish the whole building. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, and then changed the subject, "So, what are you doing here. I thought you and Lois had a girl's night planned."

"Yeah, but I got stood up. Seems a hot lead trumps a night of ice cream and Hugh Grant movies. She's hot on the trail of her favorite green masked marauder."

Clark looked at Chloe, "Did she say what her lead was?" But before Chloe could answer he held up a hand to silence her and tiled his head like he was listening.

"What?" Chloe looked around the loft, and then felt silly. He could be hearing something miles away for all she knew.

Clark shook his head, "I don't know. For a minute I thought I heard chil…"

And the world went white.

Buffy Summers was angry. She gripped her stake tightly as she marched furiously through the graveyard. "He told me that it was a nest of vamps, which technically it was, but it was so obviously not the one we were looking for. I mean, he offered me booze and tried to talk about music."

Willow followed close behind Buffy. She listened, but didn't offer any comment. Buffy had been ranting about Spike's attempt at a date all night. She was already repeating herself. If it hadn't been so incredibly wrong, it would have been funny. Spike was in love with Buffy. Ok, so maybe it was funny, just a little. Willow tried very hard to stifle a laugh.

Buffy was still seething, and in her anger she hadn't been paying attention to which cemetery they were in. She'd been staying out of this cemetery lately. Spike didn't like other vamps in his territory, so he kept it cleared out pretty well himself. Besides, the last person, or vamp, she wanted to run into tonight was Spike. Of course, that meant she was destined to run into him. She knew he was there long before she saw him. He always smelled of Marlboros and tequila and leather, and eww – she so did not want to go there. How did she know what he smelled like? Had she been paying that much attention to him? Eww.

"Slayer. What a pleasant surprise. Knew you couldn't stay away."

"Give it a rest, Spike." She turned to look at him. He was standing on top of a grave marker, his long leather coat flapping in the slight breeze. "Melodramatic, much?"

Spike hopped down off the tombstone and prowled closer to the Slayer and the Witch. "Evening, Red."

"Spike." Willow acknowledged him, not sure whether to laugh or scowl.

"So, Spike, what have you been up to tonight, and please give me some good news. I'd so love a good excuse to stake you."

"Easy, Slayer. You dust me, and who's going to baby-sit the Bit?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to make a comment, but before she could speak Willow was shushing them.

"Do you guys hear that? It sounds like chi…"

Suddenly, everything went white.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell were scared. They knew that their retirement had been too good to last. For nine years they'd had quiet lives. They'd been able to live almost normally, to raise their children without fear of constant attacks. But evil had raised its ugly head once again, and this time it was very, very bad.

The Book of Shadows was open on the kitchen table before them. They hadn't been able to find anything useful in it this time, and they were out of ideas. After a few moments of glum silence, Paige started to get up. She stopped in mid motion, and all of the sisters turned to stare as a bright, blinding flash of white came from the garden. At once, they were all in motion. Phoebe got to the sunroom door first and pulled it open. Her sisters piled out into the garden right behind her.

"What in the he…" Piper cut herself short.

"Oh, my." Phoebe exclaimed.

"I didn't do it. Not my fault this time." Paige protested before anyone could blame her.

Sitting in the middle of the garden was a large black car. Inside the car were two very puzzled looking young men.

As they stood there in shock, two more flashes of white light appeared next to the car, and with them came more figures.

"…ldren chanting." Clark and Willow finished their sentences in tandem. Spike hissed as his skin stared to smolder in the late afternoon sun. He pulled his duster over his head and dropped into the shadow created by the Impala.

"Bloody hell!" He exclaimed, and everyone else started talking at one time, all of them confused.

Wyatt pulled the other children away from the window. "Uh, guys… I think we're in trouble."

"At leasth it worked." Penny piped up, her missing front teeth making her speech a little awkward.

"Yeah, but the grownups weren't supposed to know about it. They weren't supposed to show up in the garden." Chris pulled the curtain aside again for another peek.

"Are we gonna be in trouble?" Little Prue asked, slipping her hand into her older sister's.

Patience looked down at her, "You won't, 'cause you're the littlest. But the rest of us will be."

They all looked at one another, wondering how they were going to get out of this one.

**Chapter 2: Seeing Stars**

Dean checked his gun. He and Sam stared out of the car, which was now, strangely, sitting in the middle of a fenced garden at the rear of a Victorian house. Three women stood in the doorway, wide eyed in surprise. Before either of them could say a word there were two bright flashes of light, and five more people appeared in a cluster near the front of the Impala.

"What just happened?" Sam asked.

"Damned if I know, but this has got to be the weirdest thing that has ever happened to us. And that's saying a lot, considering."

"Um. Do you think we ought to get out and talk to them?"

"I don't think we have a choice. Unless you want me to drive through the fence?" Dean gave his brother a sarcastic smirk. He checked his gun again, took a deep breath, and opened the car door. As he stepped out, he nearly tripped over a man crouching beside the car.

"Oy! Watch who you're stepping on, mate!" came a cockney British accented voice from beneath a leather duster. Spike pulled down the duster a bit to see who'd tripped over him. He looked up at a tall, thin young man with short, spiky hair, who had just gotten out of the big black classic car.

He looked up just in time to see the young man being yanked bodily into the air by the broad shouldered, dark haired young man who had been quietly watching all of the confusion. The dark haired youth lifted Dean with an ease that spoke of strength far beyond human. He held him dangling in the air with one hand.

"Jason Teague. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." Clark was seeing red. This guy had tried to kill his parents.

"Whoa, easy big guy. I think you have me confused with someone else." Dean wracked his brain. Had he ever used the name Jason Teague as an alias? He didn't think so. He was relieved to hear a gun being cocked.

"Put my brother down unless you want a bullet between the eyes." Sam's voice was music to Dean's ears. He held his pistol aimed unwaveringly at the head of the dark haired man.

Chloe put her hand on Clark's arm. "Clark. I don't think that's Jason. Jason is dead."

Piper saw the gun and raised her hands. "Ok, that's enough of that." With a flick of her fingers the entire scene froze, except for her and her sisters, of course.

"Oh, what is going on around here? And who are all these people?" Phoebe asked, gesturing to the seven still figures in their garden.

Paige was staring at them, looking at each person in turn. In a small voice she admitted, "Um, I know who they are. But I don't know how they got here," she added quickly, her hands up in a show of innocence when both of her sisters turned as one to look at her.

A voice from among the crowd in the garden startled them all, "Um, could someone please tell me what's going on here?" The red haired young woman was looking closely at the frozen form of her blonde friend. She waved her hand in front of Buffy's face and got no reaction.

"As much as we'd like to, we're not entirely sure ourselves." Piper told her. "I'm guessing you must be a witch?"

The red head stepped away from her friends and closer to the Haliwell sisters. "How did you? I mean…" She trailed off, confused.

"You didn't freeze. Only good witches are immune to Piper's power." Phoebe explained.

"Oh." Willow moved closer, halfway extending her hand and pulling it back again, uncertain, "I'm Willow. How did we get here?" She looked around the garden, "And are they going to be stuck like that?" She glanced back at Buffy, worried.

"No, we just wanted a chance to sort this out before someone got killed." Paige nodded toward where Clark held Dean suspended and Sam was aiming his gun at Clark. "I'm Paige, and these are my sisters, Phoebe and Piper."

"So, Paige, are you going to tell us how you know these people, or are we going to have to play twenty questions?" Piper was getting irate.

Paige smiled apologetically and twisted her fingers together, rolling her shoulders in an awkward shrug. "Um, well… they," She gave up trying to find the words and blurted it out, "They're TV characters." She pointed as she named them, "That's Clark Kent, and the girl next to him is Chloe Sullivan. The blonde is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the guy huddled under the coat is William the Bloody, also known as Spike. He's a vampire, but don't worry, he's a good guy. The man being dangled by his shirt is Dean Winchester, and the tall young man with the gun is his brother Sam. They're demon hunters. And this is Willow Rosenburg. She's a friend of Buffy's and a witch." She looked back to her sisters who were giving her incredulous looks, "What? I like the shows. I've got all the box sets."

Willow shook her head, "I'm not a TV character. You guys are. Now I know why you looked so familiar. You're the Charmed ones." Her eyes went wide. "Oh, Goddess! We're in a TV show!"

Paige looked offended, "We most certainly are not." She stamped her foot, and then, sheepishly, tried to clarify, "I mean, we _are_ the Charmed ones, but we're not the ones who are make believe."

Piper spoke up, her voice tinged with anger, "It doesn't matter who's real and who isn't. What matters is: why are you in my garden, crushing my basil and oregano?"

Willow shrugged, "I didn't do it. We were on patrol, and suddenly, we were here."

Paige pointed out that, "None of them could have done it." She gestured to the still forms. "Willow's the only one who uses magic." She looked at Willow, "Unless Dawn's been messing with stuff again?"

Willow looked sharply at Paige, "What do you mean again?"

Paige looked at Willow in confusion, "I mean when she…" she trailed off, realizing, "Oh… maybe that's later in the series. She might not have done it yet. I'm just going to shut up now."

Phoebe piped in with, "So, why are those three trying to kill one another?"

Paige shrugged, "Beats me."

"Shouldn't we do something to stop them?" Willow bit her lip. "They are good guys, right?"

"They can wait. I'm more interested in finding out how this happened." Piper was fuming. "If you didn't do it, and we didn't do it, that only leaves…" With a look of fury such as only a mother can wear, she stormed to the door and yelled up the stairs, "Wyatt! Christopher! Patience, Penny and Prudence Haliwell, get your butts down here this instant!"

There was a moment of hush through the house, followed by the sound of slow footsteps, like those of a condemned man on his last walk to the gallows. Before the owners of the slow steps came into view there was a sparkle of white light and Wyatt appeared at the base of the stairs.

"Mom, don't be mad at them. This was my idea." He had his hands up in a placating gesture, his eyes downcast and halfway hidden by his mop of unruly light brown hair. "We were just trying to help." The brave eleven year old scuffed his toe on the carpet. "We've never seen you and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige so worried before… we thought…"

"_Thinking_ is exactly what you didn't do." Piper held her wayward eldest child in her angry glare. Paige and Phoebe moved up beside her as the other children slowly made their way down the stairs. "You know, good and well, that you are not supposed to use any magic without asking permission first. And you are smart enough to know you wouldn't have gotten permission for something like _this_!"

"But you said you needed help!" Patience protested from her place in front of the younger girls. "We heard you talking last night. You said you didn't think you could handle this, so we brought you someone to help." She looked over at Phoebe, "Mom… we just didn't want you to have to be scared." Her blue eyes were wide as she pleaded with her mother for understanding, and she had a very mature look on her face, for an eight year old.

Phoebe's heart melted. She knew her girls wouldn't have done something like this unless they thought they were doing the right thing. She glanced over at Piper, and she knew she couldn't let this slide, though. They'd pulled people out of their own lives without warning, and they could have seriously gotten someone hurt. She put a firm scowl on her face.

Raven haired five year old Prue was trying very hard not to cry. Her green eyes were wide and her lip was trembling as she slipped her hand into her older sister's. Her cousin Penny laid a hand on the little girl's shoulder to comfort her. Penny's other hand was twisting one of her red pigtails as she watched her own mother, Paige, nervously. Chris, the second oldest of the Haliwell children, moved up closer to his brother.

"We'll talk about your punishment for this later. Right now, we really need to know what spell you used to bring them here." Phoebe said, trying to stall for time so that Piper could calm down a little. Paige just stood with her arms crossed, trying to look stern. It was hard to keep the scowl on her face when her daughter was so close to tears.

Wyatt dug in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper. He handed it to his Aunt. "We found it in the Book of Shadows. It's supposed to call a hero from a story." His eyes never left the carpet, and he was mumbling so badly Phoebe could barely understand what he'd said.

Phoebe unfolded the sheet of paper and tried to read her nephew's scrawl. She walked into the kitchen as she worked to decipher the spell. Piper, with a long, angry glare that could have peeled the paint from the walls, started barking orders. "All of you go to your rooms. Brush your teeth and get ready for bed. No TV. No talking. We will be up to talk to you all later. Go."

Five sets of little feet made tracks as they vanished up the stairs with a clatter, glad to be out from under the angry stares of their mothers.

Piper stood there until she could no longer hear the children on the stairs, and then she turned on her heel and stormed into the kitchen without a word. Paige watched her go before turning to Willow. "Sorry." She gave a crooked smile of apology, "I guess we'd better go sort this out." She gestured for Willow to accompany her into the kitchen.

Phoebe was at the table pouring through the book of shadows, her glasses perched on her nose. Piper was banging pots around in the kitchen, taking her anger out on dinner preparations. Willow and Paige slid into seats across the table from Phoebe and the three of them did their best to ignore the clangs and crashes coming from the kitchen.

Willow glanced around the house. She had seen it on television occasionally, but being there in person was another matter altogether. She had visited alternate dimensions, but she'd never expected to end up in a TV show. _Wait till I tell Tara about this_. The house was nice; beautifully decorated yet without the coldness of a show house. She could see the little things that spoke of this being a home – toys piled out of the way under a side table, a stack of mail on the counter, children's drawings on the fridge. The warm scent of herbs filled the air.

She was pulled from her reverie with a startled jump by the smack of a hand on wood. Paige had hit the table as she came to a realization, "Hey, I think I figured it out." She hopped up from her seat without a word of explanation and ran up the stairs.

Phoebe didn't seem to be disturbed by the outburst. Willow glanced over at her, "I guess she must do that fairly often?"

Phoebe shrugged, "She's the youngest. I think I found the spell the kids used, and I've got good news and bad news."

"Ta da!" There was a shimmer of white light next to Phoebe as Paige orbed into the room. She was holding two boxes of DVD's. "I was right. It's the same actor." She spoke quickly, her words tumbling together, "Jason Teague and Dean Winchester were both played by Jensen Ackles. That's why Clark got angry. He thinks that Dean is Jason Teague!" She glanced around at the confused looks she was getting and sighed. "I guess you'd have to be a fan to understand." She plopped the boxes onto the counter and sat, "Anyway, it means that it won't be too hard to keep them from killing one another when Piper unfreezes them at least."

"Well, that's good. Um…" Willow picked up the Smallville box and glanced at the back. Her eyes got wide, "Clark Kent… that kid out there is really Superman! Sweet Goddess! Too bad Xander isn't here to meet him, he'd be having a geekgasm."

Phoebe cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, "As I was saying, I have good news and bad news."

Piper stopped banging pans and came closer to hear, Willow and Paige turned back to Phoebe and listened.

"I found the spell the kids used. The good news is that the spell will reverse itself, and," she gestured to Willow, "You and all your friends will be returned to where you came from at the same point you left. The bad news is that you won't go anywhere until you have completed the task for which you were summoned."

"Which is?" Willow asked.

"I'd guess you're meant to help us defeat the demon du'jour." Piper commented. "And if that's the case I guess I'd better go unfreeze the gang in the garden so we only have to tell it once."

The four women filed out into the garden and paused a moment to look at the odd scene before them. The sun was dipping toward the western horizon, spreading long shadows across the yard. Buffy was frozen in a fighting stance, her hair flying out as she whirled at the sudden commotion from behind her, her stake on the way up incase it was needed. Clark's face was twisted with anger as he stared at the face of the man who had betrayed him and the woman he loved, and who had put his parents in such danger. Dean's face was a comic blend of surprise and fear, his hand frozen halfway to his back where his pearl handled pistol showed tucked into his jeans. Sam stood frozen in a moment of cold determination, his eyes locked on the man who was threatening his brother, his gun aimed dead between Clark's eyes. Chloe had her hand on Clark's arm, her eyes wide with alarm and pleading. Spike was mostly covered by his coat, one blue eye peeking out to watch the commotion, and a stray wisp of smoke curled up from his fingers.

Several things happened at one time. Paige held out her hands and said, "Guns." They heard the front door of the house open with a bang and a man's voice called out, "Piper, I'm home, can someone give me a hand with this stuff?" There was a red glow as another man materialized right next to Phoebe, pinching her rear as he appeared and saying, "Hey, did you miss me?" And Piper flicked her fingers, releasing the chaotic tableau before them.

**Chapter 3: Merry Chaos**

Clark hesitated at Chloe's words. He looked again at the man he was holding. It was Jason - there was no doubt in his mind. He had changed his hair, and was dressing different, but it was Jason. Except… it couldn't be.

"What the hell?" Sam exclaimed as the gun disappeared from his hand in a sparkle of white light. He looked around to see his gun and his brother's reappear in the hands of the red-haired woman standing across the garden.

"Clark Kent! You have to listen to me! That isn't Jason Teague. Just let him down and we'll explain everything." Paige called into the confusion.

"I told you, dude, you've got the wrong guy." Dean felt frantically for his missing gun.

"Ok, I think this ranks up there with some of the strangest things I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of strange things. How did you guys end up with the WB's hit lineup in the back yard?" Coop asked Phoebe.

"I'll explain the whole thing if we can keep Superman from going homicidal over a case of mistaken identity." Phoebe sighed and leaned into her husband briefly. It had been a long time since they'd had to deal with stuff like this.

Buffy looked back and forth between the two groups of people and shot Willow a questioning glance when she saw that the red-headed witch was standing with the group by the house. "Ok, something tells me we're not in Sunnydale anymore."

"What gave that away, pet? The sudden flare of white light? Or maybe the fact that it was night and the bloody sun's decided to come back for an encore performance?" Spike snarked from beneath his coat.

"If you will all just calm down, please, we can get this sorted out. Clark, please put Dean down. He's one of the good guys, I promise." Paige pleaded from her spot on the back steps.

"How did you know my name?" Dean and Clark both asked at the same time, then looked at one another. Clark sighed and lowered Dean back to the ground. He kept a wary eye on him even after he released him.

"Hey, where is everybody? I got those books from the Magic School that we needed," Leo called as he stepped from the sunroom onto the back steps and froze, "Oh… I didn't know we had company. Is that an Impala?"

Piper threw her hands in the air in frustration, "I'm going to get dinner finished, since it seems we're going to have seven extra mouths to feed. You two get everyone up to speed." She stormed back into the house, her husband following with a confused look on his face.

"Buffy, it's ok, we can trust them." Willow called, gesturing to the two Haliwell sisters who were still in the garden, "They're the Charmed Ones. They're good guys, and they vanquish demons like we do." She turned to the sisters, "Charmed Ones, meet the Chosen One, Chosen One, meet the Charmed Ones." She giggled nervously. "Sorry, I've been wanting to say that since I saw the first episode of Charmed… and I'll shut up now."

Phoebe stepped forward, "Ok, let's get this rolling along, I'm sure we all have lives we want to get back to, and there's a nasty bad guy to be vanquished. If you will all come into the sunroom we'll try to explain what's going on." She motioned for everyone to go inside.

Buffy followed Willow into the house, and so did Clark and Chloe. Dean and Sam looked at one another and shrugged, and then they followed as well. Spike judged the light of the setting sun and the distance to the door and decided he could make a dash for it. Spike and Sam reached the door at about the same time, and both of them bounced off of an invisible barrier that flared green for just a moment. Dean stopped just inside the doorway and looked at his brother in confusion.

Phoebe let out a gasp. She turned to Paige, "I thought you said they were all good guys!"

"They are!" Paige defended them, then she slapped her forehead, "But Spike's a vampire, and Sam has demon blood in him, that's why the wards won't let them through."

"Demon blood? My brother doesn't have demon bloo…" Dean trailed off as he saw Sam's face. "You don't have demon blood in you Sam, do you?" When Sam looked away with shame in his eyes Dean's legs gave out and he plopped to a seat on the floor, "Sam?" His voice sounded lost.

Paige covered her mouth as she made a dismayed noise, realizing what she had done.

"Oy! Cooking alive over here!" Spike protested as he huddled in the scant shade of a rosebush, his duster held over his head.

Phoebe glanced at Paige, her eyes narrow, "You're sure the vampire's not going to snack on any of us or turn all evil or anything?"

"I'm sure. He's a good guy. Besides, he's got a chip in his head."

"Hey, I don't go around insulting you and spreading your secrets all over, do I?" Spike mustered up some annoyance, despite his danger.

Phoebe stalked over to the irate vampire and put her hand on his head, "Allow this friend, whatever his flaws, to enter our home in peace." A shimmer of blue-green light flowed down Spike's body. "Ok, you can pass through the wards now. As long as you don't try to harm anyone inside you'll be fine."

Spike shot Phoebe a grin, "Thanks, love. I wish everyone was as understanding as you lot." He dashed for the house, sighing in relief as he crossed the threshold into the shade within.

Coop, meanwhile, was watching the byplay between the Winchester brothers. He wasn't sure what the whole story was between them, but he could see pain and betrayal on Dean's face, and shame and fear on Sam's. He could also see their hearts, and how much they loved one another. They were as close as two brothers could possibly be. He knew that he was going to have some work to do. It wasn't his usual gig, but the love of family was just as important as other sorts of love, and he wasn't going to let these two slip through the cracks. He watched as Dean got up and walked into the house without looking back at his brother.

Phoebe repeated the ritual for Sam, but he didn't move from his place on the ground. He just sat with his shoulders slumped, not looking at his brother. Paige came over and knelt on the grass next to him. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I wasn't thinking."

"No, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have been keeping secrets from him. He's going to hate me now, now that he knows that I'm what we hunt. That I really am a monster." Sam pulled a blade of grass from the lawn and began to shred it, but then he stopped and looked at Paige, "How did you know about it?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion and he started to stand, moving away from Paige.

"It's ok, you're safe here. Come on, let's go inside and you'll get the de-briefing with everyone else." Paige held up her hand to the tall young man and he helped her to her feet. They followed Phoebe and Coop into the house.

Chloe Sullivan was sitting in a white wicker chair, and Clark Kent was standing behind her, his arms crossed and his eyes on Dean. Dean Winchester leaned on the wall on the far side of the room from the door His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes were downcast, emotions flickered uncontrolled across his features as he tried to sort out what he had just learned. Buffy and Willow sat on a love seat that matched the chair Chloe sat in. Willow was talking rapidly to Buffy, waving her hand around at the house as she tried to explain about where they were. Spike slouched in a spot of deep shadow nearby, alternately glancing over at Buffy and trying not to be noticed glancing at Buffy, and looking around at all of the other people in the room and sizing them up.

Sam stared to head for his brother's side but pulled up short. He changed course to lean against the wall in another spot, thinking to give his brother some space. Paige shot him a worried glance but her sister pulled her to the center of the room before she could say anything to him. Willow grew silent and everyone turned to the sisters to hear what they had to say.

Phoebe cleared her throat and looked around the room. "I'm sorry you have all been brought here and had your lives interrupted. You were brought here by mistake. Sort of. But you can all get home again." She paused, uncertain how to continue.

Paige stepped in, "You all have one thing in common. You are all heroes. Our kids thought we needed help, which, to be honest, we do. They cast a spell to call a hero from a story, only they used my DVD collection instead of a story book, and they brought you all out of your respective stories. That's how we know who you all are. And, that's how Willow knows who we are. Apparently in her world, we're the characters from a story. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive our kids for what they did. They meant well. And we do need your help. We're facing a bad guy like we've never faced before."

Phoebe took over again, "The spell they cast will only let you go home when the bad guy is defeated, so the quickest way for you all to get back to your lives will be to help us." She paused. The room was quiet as everyone looked around at one another. Phoebe quickly spoke again to fill the silence, "I guess we should introduce everyone. I'll let my sister do that."

Paige shot her sister an annoyed look, "Well, I guess I should start with us. I'm Paige, and this is my sister Phoebe. Our other sister, the one in the kitchen, is Piper. We're the Charmed Ones. We're witches, and we fight evil, or we did before we retired. That's Phoebe's husband, Coop. He's a cupid." Coop waved to the room as Paige continued, "This is Buffy Summers, she's the Chosen One. She's stronger than human, and she slays vampires and demons. Her friend is Willow Rosenburg, and she's a witch. Behind them is Spike. He's a vampire, but he's a good guy, so don't kill him no matter how annoying he gets." She moved on quickly speaking over Spike's "Hey!" of protest. "Over there is Dean Winchester, and that is his brother Sam. They are demon and ghost hunters, and skilled fighters. This is Chloe Sullivan, she's a reporter and expert information gatherer, and behind her is Clark Kent. And yes, he is THAT Clark Kent."

That got Dean's attention, "Whoa! You mean like Superman, Lois Lane and the Daily Planet, cape and tights, Truth Justice and the American Way, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it's a bird, it's a plane… That Clark Kent? You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not kidding, though he's kind of the 'early years' version, so no cape and tights yet, and he hasn't figured out how to fly." She turned to Clark, "and that's not Jason Teague, the reason he looks like him is because he's played by the same actor. Different character, so no tying him into a pretzel. Any questions?" After a moment of shocked silence the room erupted into a roar of questions and comments.

**Chapter 4: Brass Tacks**

After a long moment of everyone trying to talk at once a shrill whistle cut through the noise and confusion, "Hey, as freaked out as we all are about this, we're not getting any closer to getting back to our regularly scheduled lives," Buffy glanced over her shoulder and added, "Or unlives, as the case may be. Just tell us who the Big Bad is and point us his way so we can get on with the butt whomping and get home."

"She's got a point." Sam added. He just wanted this to be over with so he could go ahead and have the big argument with Dean that he knew was coming and get it out of the way. He couldn't stand the way his brother was refusing to even look at him. The silent treatment from Dean was worse than anything else Sam could think of.

"That's just it, we're not sure who the demon is. That's why we're having so much trouble with this. That, and the fact that he seems to be able to convert humans into some sort of slaves or warriors. About a quarter of the city is already infected, and it's spreading faster than we can stop it."

"How, exactly, does the infection spread?" Dean asked cautiously, hoping that the answer wouldn't be what he thought it would be.

"Blood to blood contact. The only clue we've got is a single word that keeps popping up carved into trees and poles all over town – Naotaorc."

"Son of a bitch. Croatoan." Dean glanced over at Sam, "We've run into the bastard's handiwork before."

"Yeah, I've heard of the bloke. Nasty piece of work he is. Plague Demon. Never had the misfortune to cross his path myself. Heard he's a dimension hopper, though, so it makes sense." Spike stepped forward to lean on the edge of the loveseat where Buffy and Willow were sitting. The sun had finally set so he was free to move around the sun porch without risking immolation.

Paige and Phoebe shared a hopeful glance, "You don't happen to know his weakness, do you?" Paige asked.

"Not like he advertised it, pet. And all my info on him is second or third hand. He was always a bit out of my league to tell the truth," Spike admitted, "Though with the Justice League all assembled I guess we can muster up enough firepower to do something about him." Spike paused a minute as a disgusted look washed over his face, "Bloody hell! I'm starting to sound like that wanker Harris. Stake me now."

"Gladly." Buffy raised her stake with a smile and Spike edged away from the love seat, hands up in a placating gesture.

Paige's hopeful expression faded, but Phoebe was still smiling, "Croatoan. Well, that's more than we had before."

"I guess its time for research mode," Willow offered, "I can help with that."

"Yeah, me too," Sam added, pushing himself away from his slouch against the wall.

"Gimmie an internet connection and my brain's all yours," Chloe piped up, speaking for the first time since they'd all come inside. She had been carefully watching all of the people around her, taking it all in. She had put together Clark's secret, but it boggled her mind that everyone here knew, and he didn't seem to be too concerned about it. Or if he was, he wasn't letting it show. He was standing beside her chair, his arms crossed, his face an inscrutable mask. No one did stoic like Clark. But Chloe new him well enough to read his faint scowl. They would have to talk as soon as they could get some privacy.

**Chapter 5 – Chow Time**

"Dinner's ready!" Piper's call came from the kitchen before Phoebe could get the research party organized, and it was just as well. They would all need a little time to wrap their heads around what was happening before they could concentrate on the finding the demon. Besides, they were going to need the table and counter space, and they couldn't use them with food all over the place.

Piper was an excellent cook, and when she was angry or upset she could really churn out the food. It didn't hurt that she'd figured out how to use her ability to accelerate time as well, so she could compress cooking times down to almost nothing. As everyone filed into the dining room they were greeted by the sight of a feast to suit royalty. Every surface was covered by steaming dishes loaded with chicken and potatoes and yams and corn and stuffed mushrooms and potato salad and green salad and roast beef and… the list went on.

There wasn't enough room at the table for everyone, especially once the kids were called down to eat and Paige's husband, Henry, arrived home from work. The chaos was a wonder to behold. The ten members of the Halliwell clan and their seven houseguests spilled out of the dining room into both the kitchen and living room, balancing plates precariously on laps or trying to eat standing up for those who moved too slowly to find a seat.

Sam and Dean sat on opposite sides of the living room, still avoiding each other. Buffy and Willow sat on the couch, chatting animatedly about what was going on. Spike stood against the wall behind the couch, hovering near Buffy as he snacked on Piper's hotwings, but not getting too close. Coop took up the last chair in the room, pondering how best to help Sam and Dean as he ate, and noticing Spike's infatuation for the first time among the mess. This was going to get interesting.

Clark and Chloe were at the kitchen island with Chris and Wyatt. The two boys were unable to move their awed stares from one of their favorite heroes. Clark shifted uncomfortably at the scrutiny. After a few minutes of sly glances and whispers to one another Wyatt shyly pulled a comic book from where it had been tucked under his shirt. He slid it across the counter to Clark.

"Would… I mean, since you're Superman and all, it would be really neat if… Could you autograph my comic, please, sir?" The boy was turning beat red with embarrassment and his younger brother looked on in awe.

Clark, puzzled, picked up the comic. He had been confused and concerned about the things Paige and Dean had said about him, and he was looking for a quiet moment with Chloe to puzzle it all out. The habit of keeping his secret was so ingrained in him that he didn't know what to do, and he was sure they must have mistaken him for someone else. Cape and tights… what was that all about.

He almost choked on his mouthful of food when he got a look at the cover of the comic.

Emblazoned across the top of it was the word 'Superman' in red and yellow letters. Below the title was a dark haired man with blue eyes hovering in the air, his hands on his hips in a heroic pose. A red cape flowed out behind him and he was dressed in a tight blue suit in typical superhero style. Across his chest, in yellow and red, was the stylized 'S' in a shield of the El family crest. Clark's eyes went wide as he opened the book. Chloe leaned in for a better look. She gasped.

On the first page was an image of a broad shouldered man in glasses wearing a suit. It was obviously the same fellow from the cover. Speaking to him was a brown haired woman with a press pass clipped to her suit dress. The press pass carried the Daily Planet logo, and in very small print he could make out the name Lois Lane at the bottom of it. And she was calling the large man 'Clark'. The comic dropped from stunned fingers and Chloe pulled it closer to herself to flip through it.

"I'm a comic book?" Clark was stunned. "There's no way I'd wear a getup like that. No way."

"I think it kind of suits you," Chloe teased. She flipped a few pages ahead and gasped again, "look at this." She turned the comic so Clark could see it. The drawing she showed him depicted Superman flying through the skies of Metropolis, scanning buildings below him with his x-ray vision. Slowly they flipped through the comic together, Chloe suppressing a twinge of jealousy when they came to a scene of Superman flying with a star-struck Lois in his arms. She shook it off with a thought of Jimmy, who they also found in the comic, looking very young with freckles and red hair and a huge camera around his neck. She couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't in the comic.

Then they got to the end, and there was a large image of Lex Luthor as the villain in some sort of secret underground lab, gloating over a huge ray gun of some sort. Clark read the dialogue, "A kryptonite ray to take care of Superman once and for all." He closed the book and dropped it on the counter. Wyatt and Chris watched him with concern.

Chris, with an innocent little boy's understanding of what was going on, said, "Don't worry, Superman. I've read the next one, too. You beat him again this time, his dumb old ray gun doesn't work."

"Beat him again…," Clark let out a frustrated half laugh half sigh. "Lex used to be my friend. I don't want to have to keep beating him." He stood and walked out onto the sun porch.

Wyatt and Chris looked stricken with guilt, "We're sorry. We didn't mean to…" Wyatt started to say, but Chloe put a gentle hand on his arm.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know." She pulled her napkin from her lap and dropped it onto the counter as she rose. "I'll go talk to him." She followed Clark out to the sun porch.

Chris and Wyatt just looked at each other for a long moment, and then turned glumly back to their meal. Chris whispered, "He looks so sad. I didn't know heroes could be sad."

Around the table in the dining room the three sisters, Henry and Leo, and the three youngest Halliwell girls ate. Leo and Henry were full of questions, and the girls just tried to stay unnoticed. They didn't want to remind their mothers that they were supposed to be in trouble, and they wanted to hear what was going on. Piper explained to her husband, and to Henry, what had happened and why there were so many people in the house.

"So, after dinner we're going to figure out what our next move is going to be. The kids will be going to bed early tonight, and we'll decide on their punishments in the morning," Piper finished up.

"Dean was able to give us the demon's name, and Spike knows a little about it, so we've got somewhere to start with the research. Did you find the books we needed, Leo?" Paige asked.

Leo nodded, "Yeah, they're in the living room. And I've got the head librarian at Magic School looking into it as well. If he finds anything he may be popping by later."

"I guess I've got the bad news, then." Henry chimed in, "The infection is spreading, and it's not just in San Francisco anymore. It's getting out into the suburbs. And worse, I think some of the higher-ups on the force have been infected. Detectives are being taken off of some of the related investigations. I don't have all the details, cause I'm just a parole officer, but the picture I'm getting doesn't look good."

Phoebe went pale, "If the police force gets infected then they won't have to be subtle about it anymore. It'll spread much faster. We've got to hurry." She pushed her plate away, no longer hungry.

In the living room, Buffy had turned her attention to Dean. He was cute, and he was a demon hunter. Too bad they were from different worlds – literally. "So, do you guys have a Hellmouth to guard, or do you go where the demons are? Cause I'm stuck guarding a Hellmouth, and it pretty much sucks."

"Hellmouth? Is that like a Devil's Gate?" Dean asked, and then shook off the question as unimportant. He really didn't want to get into what had happened with the Devil's Gate. "We travel. We've been bouncing around the country since we were kids. Our Dad taught us how to hunt. How about you? How did you get involved with this stuff?"

"I got bopped upside the head with it. I was Chosen. The one girl in all the world, blah, blah, blah. The gig came with superpowers, but they don't make up for all the headaches." Buffy sighed.

"Superpowers? Like what, you can fly and stuff?"

Buffy snorted, "Nothing that major, but I'm stronger and faster than I look. And I get dreams that come true sometimes."

Dean glanced over at his brother, "Yeah, I know someone else who has dreams like that." His face grew thoughtful. Sam had hidden something major from him, and he was angry at him for keeping it a secret, but the geek-boy was still his brother, and he still loved him. He just didn't know if he could talk to him right now, not without blowing up at him. It hurt that Sam hadn't trusted him. And he was worried. How had Sam ended up with demon blood? Did that mean he was half demon? Was he only Dean's half-brother? Or did it have something to do with the way he'd been brought back? Did Dean's deal have something to do with it?

Buffy watched the play of emotion across Dean's face and knew there was something deep going on. She looked away, uncomfortable. She caught Coop watching Dean with a concerned expression.

Sam was concentrating on his food, carefully avoiding his brother's gaze. He felt ashamed, stained. He should have told Dean right away, but there had been so much going on… and then he'd found out about the deal. He didn't want Dean to know that he'd traded away his immortal soul for the life of a monster.

In the background, Spike was also watching the brothers and wondering. He'd heard what the red-headed witch had said about the tall one having demon blood in him, and he'd seen the brother's reaction. He carefully tucked the information away incase it would be handy later and made a mental note to get the tall one alone for a chat later.

Slowly people finished eating and made their way one by one into the kitchen with their empty plates. Clark and Chloe were at the sink rinsing the dishes, and Wyatt and Chris helped by loading the dish washer. Wyatt's comic book lay on the counter with the name 'Clark Kent' signed across the bottom of the cover in black marker.

When everyone was through and the mess was finally cleared away Phoebe, with Leo's help, toted the large stack of books to the dining room table. "Ok, let's get this mess figured out so we can get things back to normal again."


End file.
